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| John Carrivick, vice chair EuroCitizens |
Context
The 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union was followed by a sort of phoney war in which it was not clear if buyer’s remorse might set in or if getting the decision through Parliament might prove too complicated or damaging to implement. Nevertheless, worried Britons in Spain soon realised that, with some form of Brexit now inevitable, they needed to mobilise to salvage what we could from the wreck. This led to the formation of EuroCitizens and other, similarly concerned, British citizen groups in Spain and other EU countries with many of them gravitating towards a coalition under the banner of British in Europe.
In September 2019, EuroCitizens sent the British Embassy in Madrid a summary of our principal concerns now that negotiations were beginning to secure the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) that would enshrine our rights post-Brexit.
This document had two purposes. In the first place, it was intended to secure the place of EuroCitizens as an articulate and valid interlocutor with the UK government both directly and via the Embassy. We were equally keen to raise awareness of these same issues among the British resident community in Spain.
Secondly, we wanted to be sure that the main issues that concerned us were clearly identified to ensure they were taken into account in negotiations between the UK government and the European Union. We wanted to make a strong and comprehensive statement, particularly because at that stage, we did not have a full picture of what other associations existed or might be asking for. In the event, it turned out that there were several groups doing the same thing and, by and large, we identified the same principal issues across different EU member states. This was helped by our membership of the British in Europe (BIE) pan EU coalition. Respective EuroCitizens’ Presidents have served on the BiE steering committee.
The document only covered the rights of British residents in Spain and did not deal with the other consequences of Brexit ranging from damage to the British economy to the payment of customs duties on packages sent to and from the UK.
How well did we do?
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Our document was welcomed by the Embassy and passed on to the UK government via what was then the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Ever since then, we and our sister organisations in Spain have consistently been, and continue to be consulted by the British Embassy, which has also facilitated meetings with UK civil servants, Government ministers and Opposition leaders, including Stephen Barclay, Robin Walker and Jeremy Corbyn. Subsequently, particularly through our membership of British in Europe (BiE), we have achieved access to EU negotiators, including Michel Barnier, and to the House of Commons Select Committee on Brexit on three occasions, with the BiE delegation including our former president, Michael Harris, and John Richards.
The British Embassy responded to our concerns by organising a comprehensive programme of visits to different parts of Spain, both passing on information and receiving feedback from British residents throughout the country.
At the same time, we have interacted with the Spanish government through the Ministerio de Presidencia and Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores on matters regarding the implementation in Spain of the general Withdrawal Agreement (WA).
All in all, we think it is fair to say that we have punched above our weight.
What issues did we identify and how successfully were they resolved?
All the individual issues come back to two central facts – our loss of European citizenship and changes within the UK after it left the European Union.
In this context, we clearly recognise that any success is down to the combined efforts of all citizen lobbying groups both British in the EU and EU within Britain. Nevertheless, we can be proud of being an important part of that team. While some things might well have happened without lobbying, it is doubtful whether all would have or to the same extent that they did.
Issues identified and how well they went
The right to continue living, studying, and working in our country of residence:
Successful: all Britons legally resident in an EU member state by the end of the eleven-month transitional phase to 31 December 2020 maintain their right to remain in that state with no further conditions attached, and with the same freedom to work or study that they previously enjoyed. Their families, including any foreign spouses at the time of Brexit, also continue to enjoy their previous status but that status is no longer automatic for any foreign spouse who married a resident Briton post-Brexit.
So far, there have been no enforced deportations, but problems may still lie ahead for the small number of Britons who failed to take advantage of the WA grace period to become legally resident and continue to fly under the radar.
Freedom of movement within the EU
Unsuccessful: With Brexit, we had our EU citizenship and its accompanying rights removed, except for open travel for leisure purposes, into and out of EU states, as EU residents. We no longer have the right to reside or work in any EU member state other than our current country of residence. Nor do we now have the right of family reunification, either by joining relatives (unless they have EU citizenship) in another EU country or by them joining us in our EU country of residence, in our case, Spain. This has hit many of us very hard because we signed up to the Single Market dream and have had it taken away from us through no fault of our own but through a political agreement between the EU and the UK. It is particularly galling as those of us benefiting from the WA will decline in number over the years, thus not setting any precedent. Family reunification is even worse for Britons returning to the UK, where one family member might be treated as a returning citizen and the rest of the family as aliens with no more rights than any other immigrants. This situation has worsened since the introduction of the Immigration Act 2022.
Recognition of professional qualifications
Unsuccessful (so far): All qualifications for regulated professions issued under EU Directives prior to 31 December 2020 will continue to be recognised in their country of residence unless the holder has also been admitted to professional registers in other countries. Any applications for professional recognition submitted before that date will continue to be processed under those Directives and, if successful, the relevant professional qualification will also be recognised. After that date, no applications for recognition under EU Directives will be accepted and they will be treated under the national regulations of the country concerned for non-EU qualifications. The British government is currently trying to negotiate a reversion to the pre-Brexit pan-European rules but without success so far
Recognition in Spain of secondary education qualifications
In Process: A Levels and the like were accepted as equivalent to the Spanish Bachillerato for the purposes of university entrance under legislation for the recognition of qualifications form all other EU countries and those countries with which Spain has signed a mutual recognition agreement, such as China. Brexit has led to negotiations between Spain and the UK for similar recognition to continue under a bilateral agreement. In the meantime, the existing arrangements have been temporarily extended and, for the time being, British school-leaving qualifications continue to be accepted for admission to Spanish universities.
Recognition of UK higher education qualifications
With the exception of professional qualifications explained above, there has been no change: The recognition route for degrees and higher degrees varies according to purpose:
Recognition of degrees for public sector employment: Homologación through the Spanish Ministry of Education, involving a direct comparison with a named Spanish degree. Complicated and lengthy.
Recognition of degrees for private sector employment: At the employer’s discretion except where a regulated activity is concerned.
Recognition for admission to Master’s degree courses and Doctorates: at the discretion of the admitting university
Recognition in all of Spain of UK doctorates: this power has now been delegated to the rectors of Spanish public universities.
Pension Rights and Benefits
Successful: Britons resident in Spain before the 2020 deadline will retain any rights they already possessed to a Spanish pension, Spanish unemployment payments and any other welfare benefits.
Britons resident in EU countries such as Spain, before the deadline, retain such rights as they had to a British pension, including the right to have that pension uprated to the same extent as that given to pensioners resident in the UK.
Also, and most importantly, Britons resident in EU counties before the end of 2020 and retiring subsequently, will still be able to aggregate their years of contribution in each country to meet the overall length of contribution condition, with the payment burden being shared pro-rata by the countries concerned. This will also apply to those becoming legally resident in Spain after 1 January 2021.
Healthcare
Successful. One of the greatest fears was the potential loss of healthcare rights after Brexit. While the cost of private health insurance worried younger Britons, older ones worried that it would be impossible to find insurers that would even take them on. In the event, all British citizens legally resident in Spain before the end of the transition period retained their existing rights to healthcare in the Spanish public health system.
The right to study in Spain
Admission to schools: No change:
Public sector: Open to all resident children registered on the padrón of the relevant municipality, regardless of nationality.
Private schools: at the discretion of each school. Non-resident foreign children may need a visa.
Admission to universities: some changes
Provided they meet the general and course specific admission requirements, all students are welcome in Spanish universities regardless of nationality. Nevertheless, some discrimination is beginning to emerge with regard to fees, with the same set of fees for students from Spain, the EU and EEA countries but with substantially higher fees for students from all other countries. Nevertheless, Spain-resident students from excluded countries also qualify to pay the same lower rates as Spanish students, so we may see British students at the same Spanish university paying different fees based on their residential status.
Admission of Spain-resident students to UK universities
Admission requirements: no change
Fees. Substantial change and partial success
Before Brexit, EU-domiciled students, including British students resident in an EU country paid Home Student fees in the same way as their UK-based counterparts and also had access to the same loans to cover tuition fees with repayment contingent upon post-graduation income. The arrangements would remain in force until completion of their degrees for all students enrolled before the expiry of the transition period.
However, once Brexit came into force, all EU-domiciled would find themselves paying the considerable higher Overseas Student fees and would no longer be entitled to access the Student Loan Scheme to cover tuition fees.
Intense lobbying by British in Europe persuaded the UK government to apply a six-year post-Brexit moratorium on this measure for British EU-domiciled citizens only, meaning that for the first six years after Brexit came into force, these students would continue to pay Home Student tuition fees and have access to Student Loans to cover those fees. After this transitional period, they will lose these rights and be charged in the same way as the nationals of the country in which they are resident.
Erasmus
The United Kingdom has withdrawn from the Erasmus programme and replaced it with the Turing Scheme. Under Turing, the students of UK universities, regardless of nationality, can undertake study or work practice in almost any other country in the world. The funding is for the outward flow of UK-based students only with no provision for a counterbalancing inward flow from other countries but reciprocal arrangements with overseas institutions may emerge over time. In practice, this means that Spanish and Spain-resident UK students looking for an overseas component in their degree courses will apply through Erasmus if enrolled at a Spanish or other EU university but through Turing if they register at a UK university.
Political rights
Partially successful
Spain
As EU citizens, Britons resident in Spain had the right to vote and stand for office in Municipal and European elections but not in Spanish national or regional elections. With the loss of EU citizenship, these rights disappeared.
Nevertheless, a bilateral agreement, for which we lobbied, has been signed between Spain and the UK restoring our right to vote and stand as candidates in municipal elections, with reciprocal rights for Spanish citizens resident in the UK.
United Kingdom
Whilst a matter for the UK government, and outside the scope of the WA, we have supported those elements of the Elections Act 2022 related to voting rights. Previously, Britons resident outside the UK retained the right to vote in British general elections for fifteen years after their departure, with this right lapsing at the end of this period.
The Elections Act 2022 confers this right for life although the secondary legislation required to allow us to register onto the electoral roll of a particular constituency has yet to be approved. We are lobbying the UK government to accelerate the timetable for this and to include provisions to speed up registration and delivery of ballot papers through adoption of on-line facilities.
